SWISS International Air Lines Reviews

Finally my travel agent went through Lufthansa to get one. I was so stressed and angry from this experience that I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give my money to Swiss International Air Lines again. You have lost me as a customer. Swiss International Air Lines was happy to take my money, but obviously not interested in giving me a basically three sentence proof of cancellation receipt so I could get my money back from my travel insurance agency. Oh BTW Swiss, I've been happy to share this experience with every single individual I've met who has intentions of travelling.

Three weeks before my trip, I checked my booking online and it stated I had to choose and pay for seats. I contacted Swiss Air and they informed me I would not only need to pay extra for the seats but also for the bags. Again, the itinerary does not state this anywhere.

I also asked the Swiss Air customer service representative to provide me with the total price for the flight, seats and bags. The representative stated they could not provide me a price until I had booked the seats and bags. I had no idea how much the baggage fees would be and Swiss Air refused to provide me with this information. I was not willing to add an unknown amount of charges for this flight or to my credit card. This is a scam setup by Swiss Air. I paid in full for these tickets with seats and bags included. $2,241.60 is already a price gouge to travel to Europe. I searched online and discovered the additional price amounts.

Swiss Air was attempting to scam me out of at least $460.00 more for this flight with seats and baggage fees already included on my itinerary. $2,241.60 + 40 + 40 + 40 + 40+ 75 + 75 + 75 + 75 =  $2,701.60. Swiss Air also replied, "This is to inform you the seats you had reserved were cancelled because they were not ticketed in time by the relevant department. Please note that no deduction has been made from your credit card in regard to this matter."  How is this my fault? I rechecked the same flights on the same dates with Swiss Air and the 2 tickets were priced at about $1,850.00. This is about what I paid for my replacement tickets, including seats and bags. By the way, the flight was nowhere near full. I chose not to fly with Swiss Air. I will never book with Swiss Air--ever again!

This would make the total for this trip almost $900.00 more expensive than it was selling for by Swiss Air and and for my replacement tickets with the other airline. There was no other mention of any additional fees or charges when I purchased my tickets. Swiss Air refused to refund my payment even though they had fraudulently modified my flight and added additional fees. I purchased my tickets in April. From April until I contacted them weeks before my flight, Swiss Air never contacted me about any additional fees or anything else. Swiss Air never even sent me any travel document requests. The replacement airline sent these immediately after purchase.

I am a retired and fully-disabled military veteran. Swiss Air has no qualms about stealing money from customers regardless of these factors. I was planning to use this flight once every year for our vacations to Europe. Swiss Air stole $2,117.80 (after airport fees refund only) from me. Ironically, I would have been preparing to purchase this flight again for this year's travel to Europe with Swiss Air. Swiss Air will lose tens of thousands of dollars from my future travels as I book with other airlines every year to travel to Europe.

Swiss Air has numerous terrible reviews. They can be found at: **. Some of the reviews from fellow Swiss Air victims mirror my complaint. Disappearing seats and bags are standard for Swiss Air. This is an unscupulous business model. Steal the money, upset the customer, and keep the money--all without ever having to see the passenger, feed them or handle their bags. Swiss Air does not care and knows there are millions of new suckers who will be their new victims.

Why didn’t Swiss Air contact me and inform me of the need to pay for seats and bags? Swiss Air wanted me to report to the airport so they could drop their surprise charges on me and panick me into paying their extortionary extra fees. I have the satisfaction of not succumbing to their fraudulent tactics. Swiss Air also repeatedly violates EC261 and refuses to compensate customers or provide refunds.

Swiss Air customer service is condescending, rude, and uncaring. In the end, we still traveled to Switzerland and other parts of Europe. Switzerland is fun, fantastic and breathtakingly beautiful. I highly recommend it. Just don't use Swiss Air. The Swiss people are so kind and helpful. The same cannot be said about Swiss Air. Many past and former Swiss Air customers worldwide are perplexed as to what has happened to this once great airline. Swiss Air's unethical actions and thefts warrant a Class Action lawsuit. Good to know and be aware of:

United Airlines (US) 1997

After every unsuccessful attempt, I'm at the back of the queue. The next effort takes another 14 days. Now, it's the fifth try to send the money by wire transfer! My suggestion to credit the funds to the credit card is not accepted. I recommend firing some people and checking the transfer system for up-to-dateness! The cabin crew is always perfect, but the customer service is disastrous!

It was basically like sitting in wooden folding chairs. There was 0 padding and the angle forced pressure on your tailbone, resulting in pinched sciatic nerves for all 6 in our party. The smallest person in our group wears a men's US medium and is 5ft 6in tall. He filled his seat entirely and had to put his backpack in the overhead storage to have any legroom in the extra legroom seat.

My seat had a bar from the seat in front of us right down the middle of where my legs would go, as the seat legs are not lined up evenly, so I had to put my legs in one of my neighbor's areas or pull my knees to my chest not to bother them. If I pulled my knees up to my chest, though, I no longer fit in my seat. I had to keep my arms crossed in front of me to pull my shoulders in, which caused pain in my back and neck. We purchased extra legroom at $92 per person. Absolutely a rip off, but also, we are forced to do this again for the return trip because otherwise we won't be able to walk at all when we get home because the economy seating in the back is absolute hell, built for children.

The cabin of the plane was a sauna, leaving us and everyone else on the plane dripping with sweat the entire 11hrs. While the staff were nice enough, every time they brought the beverage and food service carts down the super skinny aisles, they bumped them along the seats the entire way up and down. The food was mediocre, at best. They put fruit in the macaroni and cheese!?!? There were 2 options for dinner, my husband got the other option, which looked like chunky baby food (some kind of curry chicken?) and he said it tasted like something from a can that say in a pantry for a few years. "Breakfast" was cheap yogurt and leftover dinner rolls.

We were forced to check all of our carry on at SFO by Swiss, along w our preplanned checked bags, which has been checked at PDX. The sizes were confirmed in advance and no larger than anyone else's on the flight, so this seemed extremely arbitrary. They said we would receive it at PMO. They then proceeded to lose all of our carry on luggage. We had no clothes or toiletries and have been forced to spend hundreds of what was meant to be souvenir money on these items because we only had the clothes we traveled in and a few pieces from the overflow preplanned checked bags we brought (for souvenirs).

There are no live people to speak with on the matter. They force you to go through an online reporting process that's a total nightmare and refuse to compensate the disruption in any way or even offer an insincere apology, for that matter. They claim the luggage handling isn't really their responsibility... basically it's a "you gambled, buddy, not our fault you lost" attitude, even though they force you to take said gamble.

They found our luggage in ZUR and put a "rush" on getting it to PMO. Even though they hold multiple flights daily, their rush delivery to that airport is 48hrs. Then, we had to sacrifice an entire day of our vacation to drive back up from the southern part of the island to the airport to get it. Delivery would have taken another 3 days. When I asked who I could speak with about it, the attendant at the airport said Swiss Air. Of course, you can't speak with anyone at the airline about it at all.

I called customer service, who told me they couldn't talk to me about any complaints or compensation, there's another form for that. The woman on the phone did say they only compensate you if your luggage was lost for more than 21 days, but I'm filing a claim anyway. There are laws that I believe they're trying to get people to ignore that state they must compensate additional costs due to lost luggage. I'll submit receipts for our clothes, adapters and toiletries and request reimbursement for our upgrades to compensate for spending 8 hours retrieving the luggage. (It may have been 10hrs, but I'm trying to maintain accuracy and not exaggerate)

I will never fly this airline again. Considering the multiple extra expenses incurred, the loss of an entire day of our vacation, the lasting body pains and aches, and the lack of customer service, I'll select a more expensive, longer flight, in the future on a different airline. Absolutely hate this airline. It feels like they are criminal!

While speaking with the doctor, five Swiss Airlines staff members suddenly appeared, as shown in the first video. Without asking about my condition, they immediately told me I couldn't travel because I was unwell. I felt shocked, intimidated, and frightened—never did I imagine that a simple request for a wheelchair could lead to being barred from boarding a flight. They asked for my boarding pass, which I handed over, but Diksha **, the ground manager, refused to return it. Feeling desperate, I decided to walk to the boarding gate without assistance, but realizing I didn’t have my boarding pass, I returned to them. I overheard them discussing that they wouldn't let me board and that I could do whatever I wanted, as shown in the second video. In a state of panic, I had to snatch my boarding pass back from them.

Upon reaching the gate, completely exhausted, panicked, and scared, Diksha **, along with another Swiss Airlines staff member, approached me again and demanded that I delete the video or else they wouldn’t let me board, as shown in the third video. When I continued recording, Diksha turned her face away and refused to speak. Once I stopped the video, she called out to security, shouting, "Security, throw her out; she is not traveling with us!" This scene can be verified through CCTV footage or by the police present there.

Thankfully, no one from security intervened because I hadn't done anything wrong. Within five minutes, the pilot arrived with another member of the Swiss ground team. I explained to them how I had been harassed earlier. They insisted on a medical examination, to which I agreed, as I was completely stable to travel—my only request had been for wheelchair assistance. During the examination, my fever registered at 100°F, and my pulse rate was 118 (thanks to the distress caused by the ground staff and Diksha **). After all the tears and anxiety, when the doctor asked for payment, I was surprised because I had not requested medical assistance. Diksha ** then stated that the airline was not liable for passengers' medical expenses. Although I was prepared to pay the 700 rupees for the check-up, I felt it was unfair.

By 1:30 am, my flight had been delayed by half an hour due to weather conditions. The staff member who had accompanied the pilot earlier stopped me again, telling me to follow him. By this time, everyone else had already boarded. After confirming that I was fit to travel, this staff member continued to intimidate me, stating that it was in their hands to allow me on the flight. I showed him my medical reports to prove I was fit, but he insisted I delete the photos and videos I had taken. Under pressure and feeling blackmailed, I complied, even deleting them from the "Recently Deleted" folder. Only then did he allow me to board the plane.

How do I feel about this situation? Traumatized, scared, and humiliated. I request Swiss Airlines hire empathetic staff who have a genuine willingness to help their passengers. The snobbish behavior I encountered should not be tolerated in an airline where passengers place their trust and safety. I call for a thorough investigation into the actions of Diksha **, her team, and the staff member who escorted me. They had no right to bully me in this manner. I want to extend my gratitude to the medical services team, who were the only ones to calm me down during this ordeal as I cried my heart out.

The representative by the name Ane has told me that Swissair does not have any Supervisors. And after few more non helpful comments by her, she kinda said that there is nothing she or anyone else can do. My question to her was if Swissair simply stole my money and she was quiet. I would never expected that from a Swissair, but I hope this will help other people. Do not use upgrade options and if there is any way, avoid Swissair all together. If there is a problem their help to the customers is non existent!!!

I then asked for a seat reservation as I was unable to do it online as it was blocked for some reason, their website is a mess, I was hung up on another 2 times until I again was able to call and reach some who was able to reserve the seats with extra leg room in economy, I asked to be to the front of the plane as possible and they did the reservation for me and they charged my card more by $75 dollars than what was stated on their disaster of a website. I asked them to send me the new seat reservation and questioned them on why they charged me more than what was stated they said this is the way it is, and they refused to send me the new seat assignment on email saying they can only say it on the phone, what a mess, I must have spent two days on this story.

I then called again to ask about how much an extra bag would be and they told me $120 dollars and I said, "No I will think about it" and the next day I find a charge for $170 dollars on my credit card, what a scam of a company and I called again and was hung up on another 3 times until again I was able to reach someone and they said that if I cancel all is non refundable. I gave up and I can tell you I will never ever in my life use Swiss Air or Expedia. Both are disgusting and have zero notion on Customer Excellence, they are scammers and they simply do not care! I do not recommend anyone to use both companies. They are a disaster!

Swiss Air sent me 3 emails during our trip, changing our seats each time, due to "equipment changes." We purchased our tickets 3 months in advance, in order to ensure that we had one aisle and one window seat with extra legroom for each flight, due to her history of blood clots in the legs. And without any thought, they removed us from our seats and stuck us in middle seats with no legroom.

I spent approximately 3+ hours on the phone, of which I was disconnected 5 times (yes, FIVE TIMES). Swiss Air told me they could NOT help me with my seats and that I would have to deal with Lufthansa. I called Lufthansa and they said they would NOT help me because I purchased the tickets on Swiss Air so I would have to deal with Swiss Air. A continuous loop of BS and unaccountability. NO ONE would help us with our ever-changing seat assignments. We even asked if we could change flights for our return back to LAX, and they said the fare difference would be $1350 PER TICKET.

The day before our return flight back to Los Angeles, we received yet another email stating that my mom had NO SEAT on the flight, AT ALL. When I called, I was subjected to one RUDE Swiss Air rep after another, all saying "sorry for the inconvenience, but there is nothing they can do" and that we would have to wait until we got to the airport in Milan. Swiss Air ALSO said that extra legroom fees are NONREFUNDABLE and they would NOT be able to refund the money from the seats that we originally purchased and were REPEATEDLY STOLEN from us.

So let me get this straight. We paid WAYYYY too much money in the first place to purchase our original tickets 3 months in advance on through Swiss Air's website, paying extra for each segment in order to have extra legroom. Then Swiss Air changes our seat assignments 3 times, each time to a middle seat with NO EXTRA LEGROOM. Then you take my mom's seat away ENTIRELY ANDDDDD you tell us that we will not be able to get a refund for the extra legroom seat that we purchased. And to top it off, Swiss Air tells us we HAVE to go through Lufthansa and Lufthansa tells us we HAVE to go through Swiss Air.

I was so disgusted with both Swiss Air AND Lufthansa (who owns Swiss Air) that we finally gave up and purchased one-way tickets home on Emirates Air, which was the airlines we SHOULD have flown to begin with. I will NEVER, and I mean NEVER fly Lufthansa or Swiss Air EVER again. What they did is CRIMINAL and no one gives a you know what. We have no recourse, nowhere to go. Just a lot of lost money. They stole my precious vacation time and caused me an INCREDIBLE amount of stress and anguish, NOT TO MENTION, REFUSING TO PROVIDE WHEELCHAIR ASSISTANCE FOR MY ELDERLY MOBILITY-IMPAIRED MOTHER. All I can do is pray that both airlines go bankrupt, never to be in business again.

During meal service, the steward (a young male) completely forgot to serve meal to my wife and went ahead two rows. To notify the steward that he missed serving meal to my wife, I politely said, "Excuse me". I was very rudely and angrily replied, "Wait a minute", by the steward. Once he came to my seat I told him that he missed serving meal to my wife and also told him that there is no reason to be rude when I am being polite. To this he replied, "Please don't start", angrily again. He served my wife the meal and moved on. Later the stewardess (** with a single braid hairstyle) came to me in a very intimidating manner and sat on the armrest of seat 35C. She started by saying, "my colleague said there is a problem". I explained her that her colleague was very rude when I politely mentioned that he missed serving meal to my wife.

The steward later apologized to me before leaving the flight but the stewardess needs to be sent back to customer service training, clearly.

As someone who is regularly travelling international for the past 18 years, this was the first time I have had such a bad experience with an airline staff. I completely understand if they are understaffed, but that gives them no right to be rude to me (a full ticket paying customer) when I was polite. To tell me that "You shouldn't travel with Swiss next time" directly on my face by a Swiss employee is the worst customer service I have faced in air travel. Unfortunately, the stewardess herself forgot that her salary comes from the tickets that people buy through Swiss Air.

On the official SWISS airlines website of (https://www.swiss.com/gr/en/customer-support/faq/seat-reservation) I see the following: "Might SWISS change the seat I reserve in advance, later on? If SWISS has to change your seat reservation, e.g. due to a short-notice change to the aircraft type used, SWISS will do its best to automatically reserve you a new seat in the seat category you have booked. If it is not possible to reserve an equal seat for you, you may apply to receive a Refund of the charge online."

Upon arriving to my destination, I filed a request for a refund. I was answered 11 days later by a customer feedback consultant named Ilisapeci **. She flatly refused my claim. When I politely pointed to her that the official website states that I am entitled to a refund she gave this rude answer: “SWISS has responded adequately in your case. I therefore trust in your understanding that this message reflects our final position and that this file is now considered closed.” I was shocked by her response, and asked her for contact information for her supervisor, which she completely ignored. I then tried calling the US customer service phone number. I tried twice, but gave up after waiting for 60 minutes each time. This airline has the worst customer service I encountered in a long time.

The staff in the Swiss airline refused to give me a boarding pass. They said they had a problem and did not want to give me boarding pass. I asked them to solve problem, they said it was not their responsibility to help customer, instead, they asked policemen to catch me. I never met this kind of discrimination before. I am your customer. I paid money to buy Swiss Airlines ticket, but the staff from Swiss Airlines asked policemen to catch their customer.

I need to go back to New York on time. At the end I had to buy other high price flight ticket to back to NYC. I never encounter this horrible event during my life and never heard these words “It was not their responsibility to help the customer” from other airline. I lost my money and time. I got physical and mental hurt from Swiss Airlines. Note all customer who had bad experience with Swiss Airlines, the best way to get refund is to inform directly your bank to block transfer or to help refund payment if you bought ticket by credit card. Don't waste your time asking Swiss Airlines for a refund because they won't give you want. Hope Swiss Airlines will go out of business soon to avoid hurting more people. They are evil. And don't buy flight ticket from Mytrip agency. Both of them are evil and will hurt you.

I am sure we are not the only ones with this problem and feel that such unethical actions should not be allowed to continue. If Swiss air do make the refunds, they will of had use of our money, and that of others for a minimum of six mths. interest free. I am writing this complaint not only to express my utter disgust with Swiss air's total lack of ethics, but also in the hope that it will help others from being involved in such shameless exploitation. Thank you.

Karma. We dont check in, we dont board. The flight leaves, develops mechanical problems, diverts back to departure airport, and is cancelled. We are issued a refund. Not because they wanted to. But because the plane mechanically failed. This is a soulless enterprise. You are not their customer, you are a provider of cash to fund their profit. Customer service is offshored. They read off scripts. And apparently hanging up on you is in the script. They are not in the EU so are not subject to typical EU laws that make others behave more humanely towards customers. They will not survive for long; such hubris and incompetence is typically met with a commensurate downfall. Do not fly them. Do not consider flying them. If this prevents one family from making the mistake of trusting SWISS, then the time writing this review has been well spent.